It can sometimes be easy to forget how fortunate we are to live in a city as majestic and enchanting as Bristol.

Sure, the whole Metrobus thing has been a bit of a disaster this year and plans for the seemingly ill-fated arena suffered yet another setback, but there were still plenty of reasons for us to celebrate and be proud of Bristol in 2017.

We think it's fair to say Bristol is one of the coolest cities in Europe but don’t just take our word for it, this year there have been plenty of national accolades and award to back up our claim – here are 11 of the most gloat-worthy.

Read More

Bristol was named the coolest city in the UK

Bristol Harbour Festival

We all knew this already, but Bristol was named the coolest city in the UK by Rough Guides, thanks largely to the city’s first-rate nightlife and proximity to the great outdoors. The rejuvenation of the Harbourside, namely Cargo, had a big part to play in the award, too.

And then the coolest in the whole of Europe

Lakota in Stokes Croft

Yet more praise for the city came in December when Bristol featured 11th on the National Geographic Traveller UK's Cool List, which sets out the world's ultimate 18 must-see destinations for 2018. Bristol was the only British city to make the list and the highest European city to feature.

Read More

As well as being named as the best place to live in the UK by the Sunday Times

Colourful homes that line the streets of Hotwells

The accolade came in part two of the newspaper’s ‘Best Places to Live’ guide, which was published in May. The guide praised Bristol for being “a small city that feels like a big city, handily placed for seaside and scenery, but hardly cut off from the rest of the country.”

Read More

New research proved that Bristol’s residents are the most satisfied in the UK

A crowd at The Downs Festival 2017

A study revealed in September that Bristol is joint with Oxford when it comes to residents’ overall ‘life satisfaction’. The study, which quizzed 3,000 Brits, asked participants to consider their happiness, general life satisfaction and ways in which we boost our mood, as well how they feel on a scale of one to ten. The average UK life satisfaction was 6.37, with Bristol scoring 6.7.

Cargo was named as one of best places to eat out in the UK

Cargo is one of the city's main foodie hotspots

The Harbourside mini village of converted shipping containers hasn’t taken long to establish itself as one of the city’s main foodie hotspots and includes a number of fantastic restaurants including Box-E, Root and Salt & Malt. It was included in The Telegraph’s end-of-year round-up, with one columnist saying it’s her favourite place to eat out in the UK.

Read More

Motion retained its position as one of world’s best clubs

Once again, Bristol’s superclub Motion was named as one of the best in the world. This year it came in at number 20 on DJ Mag’s top 100 list, reminding us all that we are incredibly lucky to have it on our doorstep. It has recently undergone a big refurbishment, opening up a brand new room, and has welcomed the likes of Bicep, Andy C and Nina Kraviz.

Casamia enhanced its reputation by being listed as the second best restaurant in the UK

Peter Sanchez-Iglesias in the kitchen at Casamia

This year Bristol thoroughly bolstered its reputation as a foodie hotspot and one of the factors of this was Casamia being named the second best restaurant in the UK in the prestigious Harden’s Best Restaurant Guide 2018. It was the icing on the cake for what was a sterling year for the Michelin Star rated restaurant.

Read More

Paco Tapas gained a Michelin Star less than a year after opening

Food being prepared at Paco Tapas (Image: MrNickHook-Photography)

Some restaurants work hard for years to earn a Michelin Star but for Paco Tapas it didn’t even take one. In what was yet another feather in the cap for Bristol’s food scene, the tapas restaurant gained a Michelin Star in October to the delight and surprise of head chef Peter Sanchez-Inglesias.

It was confirmed that the city is home to one of the country’s best fish and chip shops

Bishopston Fish Bar

Gloucester Road chippy Bishopston Fish Bar was the only Bristol restaurant to be named in Fry Magazine’s 50 Best Fish and Chip shops list, which covers the whole of the UK, for the 16th year in a row. It was also shortlisted to win the coveted ‘fish and chip shop of the year’ award, which it won in both 2015 and 2016.

Read More

And also one of the UK’s best curry houses

Urban Tandoor in Small Street

Urban Tandoor in Small Street was crowned the country's best Asian healthy eating restaurant at the Asian Curry Awards, which took place in London in November. It was up against restaurants from Kent, Stockport and Scotland, but fought off the competition to bring the prize home to Bristol.

The Bristol Cheesemonger was officially named the best in the UK

Brie from The Bristol Cheesemonger (Image: The Bristol Cheesemonger/Facebook)

One of the jewels in Cargo’s crown, the Bristol Cheesemonger made national news when it was named the best cheese shop in the UK at The Great British Cheese Awards. After relocating to foodie hotspot Cargo from St Nicholas Street earlier this year, the shop has grown in popularity and is loved by its customers for collecting the very finest seasonal cheeses from the area, with a strong emphasis on South West produce.